Chapter 8: Physical Growth in Preschool Children

1. Chapter 8: Physical Growth in Preschool Children • 8.1 Physical Growth • 8.2 Motor Development • 8.3 Health and Wellness • 8.4 Child Neglect and Maltreatment

2. 8.1 Physical Growth • Body Growth • Brain Development • Sleep

3. Body Growth • Growth slows and is more stable during preschool years • Loss of fat and changing proportions • Cartilage turns to bone • Usually have all 20 primary teeth 8.1 Physical Growth

4. Average Growth During Preschool Years

5. Changing Body Proportions

6. Tooth Development

7. Brain Development • Preschool years a time of rapid growth for brain • Synaptic pruning continues • Myelinization continues, particularly of the corpus callosum and sensory and motor regions of the brain • Brain becomes more specialized 8.1 Physical Growth

8. Development of Brain

9. The Brain

10. Sleep • Amount of sleep decreases, including giving up naps around 4 years • Bedtime struggles occur nightly in 20-30% of children • Some children have sleep disturbances: nightmares, night terrors, sleep walking, and bedwetting 8.1 Physical Growth

11. Hours of Sleep

12. 8.2 Motor Development • Gross-Motor Skills • Fine-Motor Skills • Handedness • Gender Differences in Motor Skills

13. Gross-Motor Skills • Big improvements in running and hopping • Improved ability to catch and throw a ball • Advanced motor skills lead to unstructured play 8.2 Motor Development

14. Development of Throwing and Catching

15. Fine-Motor Skills • Improved dexterity leads to more precise and delicate movements • Greater fine-motor skill means that children can feed and dress themselves • Better grip of writing implements means improved drawings 8.2 Motor Development

16. Stages of Drawing

17. Handedness • By 2 years, most children show a clear hand preference, 90% are right-handed • Left-handed people are more likely to have migraines, allergies, and language-based problems • Lefties are more likely to be artistically and spatially talented 8.2 Motor Development

18. Gender Differences in Motor Skills • Boys tend to be more muscular and more active • Boys better at running and throwing • Girls tend to be better at balancing, hopping, skipping, and fine-motor activities 8.2 Motor Development

19. 8.3 Health and Wellness • Nutrition • Threats to Children’s Development

20. Nutrition • Preschoolers need to eat less per pound than infants and toddlers • Some preschoolers become picky eaters • Parents should encourage a well-balanced diet 8.3 Health and Wellness

21. Threats to Children’s Development • Minor illnesses are common (7-8 colds per year) • Chronic illness, except asthma, is not common in childhood • Stress and poverty are more likely to lead to injury and illness • Hospital stays can be made less traumatic 8.3 Health and Wellness

22. 8.4 Child Neglect and Maltreatment • Consequences of Maltreatment • Causes of Maltreatment • Preventing Maltreatment

23. Consequences of Maltreatment • When children are abused, their social, emotional, and intellectual development is often affected • As adults, children who were abused are more prone to depression and anxiety 8.4 Child Neglect and Maltreatment

24. Causes of Maltreatment • Cultural and social factors--cultural attitudes, poverty, social isolation • Parental--unhappy adults with limited parenting skills • Children--very young and ill children more often targets as are stepchildren 8.4 Child Neglect and Maltreatment

25. Preventing Maltreatment • Change attitudes toward acceptable punishment • Eliminating poverty and other stressors • Providing parents with better parenting and coping skills and social support 8.4 Child Neglect and Maltreatment